It is highly desirable to identify a gun used in a crime. Identifying the source of a firearm used in a crime can quickly provide police or other law enforcement officials with an active lead in the crime investigation. Many firearms have a serial number or other identifying markings etched or engraved into the gun during manufacture. If a crime gun is recovered, such markings may help law enforcement official locate the owner of the gun, where it was purchased, and other useful information. However, serial numbers and other identifying markings may be removed from firearms used in the commission of a crime, making identification of a gun used in a crime more difficult.
If a crime gun is not available, other methods may be used to identify the weapon. Fired bullets and spent cartridge cases typically have characteristic markings caused by the gun from which they were fired. These markings result from forced contact between the bullet or cartridge casing and the metal parts of the firearm. Machining of the parts during the manufacturing process yield microscopic differences between one part and the next. Microscopic examination of fired bullets and spent cartridge cases can be used to demonstrate that they were likely to have been fired by a specific gun.
Automated ballistics matching systems, such as the Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS) and the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), are already in use by some law enforcement agencies for the identification of firearms. Such systems enable spent cartridge cases recovered from a crime scene to be matched against a database of cartridge cases and firearms. If a match is found, the information can provide beneficial leads to help solve a crime more quickly. More information about gathering and using ballistics information is described for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,801, issued on Aug. 5, 1997, which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.
However, automated systems like IBIS and NIBIN only provide useful information if there are matching cartridge case images in the database. Cartridge case images in the database often come from cartridge cases found at crime scenes, for example. Because the vast majority of publicly owned firearms have not been used in the commission of a crime, they will not show up in an IBIS or NIBIN-type database. It would therefore be desirable to provide a means for increasing the number of firearms for which IBIS/NIBIN-type information and data is available.
One means of populating an IBIS/NIBIN-type database would be to mandate that ballistic information be obtained and entered into the database for all firearms. However, such a mandate would be politically unpalatable in many places. For example, in the United States powerful activists groups would resist such a mandate as an affront to the right to bear arms and an infringement of privacy rights. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide information for populating IBIS/NIBIN-type databases without hampering such basic rights.
Stolen firearms represent a significant source of guns used in crimes. A European study reported that as many as 95% of guns used in crimes are stolen from individuals and legitimate dealers. A study by Americans for Gun Safety indicated that approximately 1.7 million guns were stolen in the United States during a ten year period; that 81.2% of the stolen guns were taken from individuals; and that over half are still missing. It would also be desirable to provide methods and apparatus for supplying IBIS/NIBIN-compatible ballistic information to the authorities when a firearm is lost or stolen.